


A bend in the undergrowth

by Hllangel



Category: White Collar
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-13
Updated: 2011-09-13
Packaged: 2017-10-23 17:33:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/252941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hllangel/pseuds/Hllangel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Neal muses over his options.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A bend in the undergrowth

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place somewhere closely before the S3 mid-season finale. Written for [The New Pub](http://thenewpub.livejournal.com/)

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood," Mozzie quotes.

"You're really going to quote Frost at me," Neal says.

"Just because it's common doesn't mean it's not genius," Mozzie says, defending his choice.

Neal doesn't respond. The problem with the two-roads theory is that there's never just two choices. And rarely are the paths so clear. All of his choices seem to bend into the undergrowth about three feet in front of him. Well, all except the one Peter wants him to take. He can see the end of that road pretty clearly. It ends with the life he'd convinced himself he once wanted, with a house and a dog and maybe even kids. But it's missing the one thing he'd built it around, Kate.

He knows now that it was a stupid fantasy, and that he would never be able to have it with her, even though he wanted to give her the world, once. There are three people now in his house of dreams, and it's quiet and cozy, but it's boring. Maybe not at first. Maybe Peter and El would be enough to keep him for years. God knows he's tired of running.

But there are so many other things out there, and maybe there's something glinting just around the next corner of some other path. It could be handcuffs or it could be spanish silver. Hell it could be just the reflection off a puddle, but it's something that he can't see, and it's something that he wants to explore. After all, with his record there are only so many places that will be willing to hire him for enough money to be interesting.

Neal drops the metaphor because it's just making him irritable. He knows that Mozzie is waiting for him to make a choice, but he's just not ready to do that yet. For now, he has to be satisfied with what he has, and with the endless possibilities that are just out of reach, because to start down one path is to close the others off for good, he thinks.

He's always been a dreamer, anyway.


End file.
